A pleasant blast from the past. It's definitely got a style to it that I haven't seen very closely replicated but then I suppose the chance to invoke such aesthetics as "Ye Olde Salem Witch" hairdo come far too rarely.

There are so many really good game franchises that it's frustrating that it's not practical to get every console to experience them all. I love the Persona style but I've never gotten to play any of the games.

I've not seen any of SAO and at this point perhaps will not. Your complaints seem plausible and these days, I presumably would have to buy at least the first half in one chunk. (In that respect I miss the days when you could pay for only three or four episodes to discover a show wasn't for you.) Though, since I've also seen none of .Hack I at least wouldn't have that impediment. Maybe if I can stream it some day, we'll see.

I can't recall that I saw any significant resemblance between Tenchi and VanDread except for them both being space harem shows. Doesn't mean you're wrong, just that it wasn't there for me.

I've not seen any of SAO and at this point perhaps will not. Your complaints seem plausible and these days, I presumably would have to buy at least the first half in one chunk. (In that respect I miss the days when you could pay for only three or four episodes to discover a show wasn't for you.) Though, since I've also seen none of .Hack I at least wouldn't have that impediment. Maybe if I can stream it some day, we'll see.

It's on YouTube if you're curious.

I can't recall that I saw any significant resemblance between Tenchi and VanDread except for them both being space harem shows. Doesn't mean you're wrong, just that it wasn't there for me.

One just reminded me of the other, that's all. Most of it is in space, there are a lot of girls in the cast.

From what I can piece together from various discussions about it (I haven't seen it myself yet), it seems like this is divisive largely along two conjoined lines: a) anime fans who have seen a fair amount of shows are far more likely to see it as derivative and b) there is some contingent of anime fans who just don't consume their anime critically. I'm confused as to how well it'll go over with me as I've definitely seen a lot at this point and regularly call out anime for being derivative but I'm also ok with it as long as it either does it better, does something new or subverts it altogether so in that sense I sometimes brush against the second crowd as well if only in the sense that I appreciate a good ride on occasion even if it covers no new ground (of which I'm largely skeptical that there's appreciable new ground to be tread). It's kinda like how Battle Royale, Gantz and Btooom! all share the same core mechanic (and one not that far removed from ./Hack and SAO) yet each remains uniquely enjoyable.

I believe there was some early rumblings that it had good potential to break the mold a bit as it [initially] portrayed Asuna as a strong female lead. This definitely piqued my early interest in the show however, as you noted as well, this falls by the wayside rather quickly and ultimately she's cast into the princess template. What a waste. Either way, though, I'll still probably watch it if only to be aware first-hand of its shortcomings.